Compost List of Over 200 Compost Ingredients

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Compost List - Over 200 Compost Ingredients, How to Make Compost, Improve Your Soil, & Spend Less Money on Your Garden

Compost Happens with or without you.  But, you can make compost better, faster, and easier, and improve your garden, and help the Earth and your environment, and SAVE MONEY - all at the same time!

This picture of a Swallowtail on a Daylily was taken by fizgig777 & posted here on GardenWeb.comJust an example of the Beautiful & Good things that happen when you add COMPOST to your garden soil (or even your lawn for that matter!).

Compost Basics

Compost happens when nitrogen, carbon, air and moisture feed microbes that digest and decompose stuff into compost.

What is compost good for? To add to your garden, your houseplants - or just back to the ground.

Nitrogen - a.k.a. "greens" - food & green plant scraps
Carbon - a.k.a. "browns" - leaves, paper products

Suggested ratio is about 3:1 Brown/Carbon :to: Green/Nitrogen

Nothing is all nitrogen or all carbon - but the things in the list below have significantly more of one than the other.

How long does the "stuff" take to decompose into compost? That depends. [famous lawyer answer] Depends on container, size of "pile", green/brown ratio, moisture content, amount/activity level of microbes.

REMEMBER: Especially if you have a garden - All of these nutrients came out of the ground to make the plant. If you don't compost, how will it get back into the ground?

SquidAngels have *Blessed* this Compost Lens

Who are SquidAngels? They are awesome, talented, poetic and creative Squidoo lensmasters who have created some of the best and coolest lenses out there. Sooooo, if you are in the market for some excellent humor, information and insight, visit them!

3 Days

From today's rain storm ...
and then
I can use my
leaf shredder
to add
"browns" to my
compost pile

What is Your Relationship to Compost?

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Vote for your Favorite Compost Ingredients!

Over 200 items for your compost pile

Tell us what you love adding to your compost pile the most - or what you can see yourself adding to most to your soon-to-be compost pile! [If you like this list, thank Marion Owen @ Plantea.com for inspiring & creating an awesome one (from which we've borrowed some items).] If you don't have a compost pile yet, how many of these things do you add to a landfill everyday that could be nourishing your Earth tomorrow?

Vegetable Trimmings/Scraps

15 points

Fruit Trimmings/Scraps

11 points

Used Coffee Grounds - from your home

9 points

Eggshells

9 points

Leaves - whole

7 points

Deadhead & pruning plant trimmings

7 points

Napkins/paper towels

6 points

Plants from your/others' garden - that have died

(but not diseased)6 points

Moldy stuff in fridge that you're finally cleaning out

(that do NOT include dairy or meat)6 points

Used Coffee Grounds - from a shop

5 points

Leaves - shredded

5 points

Clementines, Oranges, Pears, Apples, Cantaloupes

that got too mushy in fridge before you got around more...5 points

Tomatoes, Cucumers, Peppers, Zucchini, Celery, Lettuce

that got too mushy before you got around to eating more...5 points

apple cores

5 points

Halloween Pumpkins

4 points

Grass clippings - from mowing the lawn

4 points

Nut shells

4 points

Spent annuals

4 points

Scrap paper

4 points

Kleenex/tissues

4 points

Cereal Boxes

3 points

Dead bugs

3 points

Paper towel & toilet paper "tubes"

3 points

Orange, clementine, mango & melon peels

3 points

Newspaper - shredded, balled up, or as is

3 points

Junk mail

(but not glossies)3 points

Used Envelopes

(but not windows)3 points

cut flower arrangements that should have been tossed already

3 points

water/broth from steamed/boiled veggies

3 points

mushy, brown bananas

(that would be great in a banana nut bread, but no more...3 points

left-over coffee in the coffee pot

3 points

coffee filters

3 points

Human Urine

2 points

Beer

2 points

Stale pastries

2 points

A failed veggie side-dish attempt

(that no one will eat)2 points

Old spices & herbs

2 points

Frozen veggies - with freezer burn

2 points

dog fur

2 points

houseplants past their prime

2 points

uneaten extra 1/2 serving at the bottom of the oatmeal pot

2 points

mushy onions

2 points

squishy potatoes

2 points

"juices" from canned veggies

2 points

cardboard boxes

(big ones, shipping boxes)2 points

Holey underwear & socks

2 points

watermelon rinds

2 points

stale chips & crackers

2 points

guacamole turned brown

2 points

that exotic new veggie that you never got around to making

2 points

the now slimy fresh mint & parsley that you never did get around to using in your salad

2 points

fliers from the Home Owners' Assoc, & local vendors that are stuck in the door

2 points

store receipts

2 points

used To Do lists

2 points

Used coffee grounds from the office

2 points

cat hair

2 points

absolutely worn-out cotton rags

2 points

used tea bags or tea leaves

2 points

old wine you'll never drink

2 points

ugly grapes

2 points

all those "page 2 of 2" that you printer spits out that has nothing on it

2 points

rhubarb leaves

2 points

beet tops

2 points

green tomatoes that are too small to transform

into Fried Green Tomatoes2 points

moldy bread

2 points

OPL - other people's leaves

2 points

small twigs

(but only small amounts)2 points

lemon rinds after you've squeezed the juice

out of them for a recipe2 points

grapefruit skeletons after breakfast

2 points

cotton/wool felt scraps

2 points

weeds - without seeds

2 points

slugs

(to keep them out of the garden)2 points

vines, leaves & stems from bean plants,

and zucchini plants, and cukes, and . . .2 points

grape stems

(after you've eaten all of the grapes)2 points

the plate of food that you left on the kitchen counter

that the dog just licked (that's not meat or dairy more...2 points

pizza crusts that the kids hate to eat

2 points

Blood meal (dried blood)

1 point

Alfalfa pellets

1 point

Hay

1 point

Winter crop harvests

1 point

1 year old frozen left-overs

(without meat or dairy)1 point

Used food/Christmas shopping lists

1 point

rabbit, hamster, guinea pig cage cleanouts

(but not dog or cat droppings)1 point

bird cage cleanouts

1 point

moldy apple sauce from the huge unfinished jar

1 point

kids' lunch box left overs

(1/2 eaten pbj sandwiches, etc.)1 point

left-over breakfast toast scraps

1 point

the 2 remaining pancakes

1 point

the remaining peanut-butter in the jar

(because you're going on a diet)1 point

stale cookies

1 point

the gift of a fruitcake

(because no one is ever really going to eat it - a more...1 point

brown shopping bags

1 point

pressed board boxes

(that're used for packaging toothpaste, instant ri more...1 point

electric pencil sharpener empty-ings

1 point

hummus gone bad

1 point

the now-moldy bumper from the bumper crop of tomotoes

1 point

toe-nail & finger-nail clippings

1 point

notices from school & PTA

1 point

Shreds from the home/office Shredder

1 point

sewing & quilting fabric scraps & thread snips

1 point

moth-eaten wool sweaters

1 point

paper mache projects that didn't quite turn out as planned

1 point

IRS tax return forms that you won't use because you have a software program or CPA

1 point

moldy bottom of the pasta sauce jar

1 point

old baking soda (that was used to deoderize the fridge)

1 point

hardened, gongealed drink mix powders

1 point

every pressed board item (e.g. boxes, wrappings) that came out of the bathroom closet & draws that you finally decluttered

1 point

Christmas cards in February

1 point

any printed item along the line of "Go Yankees"

[See my Boston Red Sox - It's About Faith Squidoo more...1 point

the little paper peelings that teenagers create when

they're talking on the phone & peel the label more...1 point

assembly instructions after you've put the thing together

1 point

puzzles that are missing a few pieces

and so no one will actually do them anymore1 point

completed Sudoku & Crossword puzzle books

1 point

false propaganda letters from your opposing political party

1 point

hard-as-a-rock marshmallows

1 point

paper wrapper of the Ream of Paper

from your favorite office supplies store1 point

old recipe clippings

for recipes that you'll never make1 point

2-day-old bagels & donuts

that're past the dunking stage1 point

potato & carrot peelings

1 point

now-irrelevant business cards

1 point

pear stems & cores

1 point

pressed-board boxes that 12-packs of soda come in

1 point

pint & half-gallon ice cream containers

1 point

SAT vocabulary index cards

(after the tests ;)1 point

grocery store sales inserts in the newspapers

1 point

all of the paper bills that you pay online anyway

(that you've been meaning to put on paperless emai more...1 point

white rice, because you're going to replace it

with brown rice because white rice is so bad for y more...1 point

cotton balls that you used to clean the dog's ears

(but not the ones that have makeup remover on them more...1 point

empty matchbooks

1 point

cardboard egg cartons

(but not styrofoam ones)1 point

the cardboard boxes that the dryer sheets come in

(but not the dryer sheets themselves)1 point

the spent blooms from the Butterfly Bush

1 point

mistletoe after Christmas

1 point

after-dinner plate scrapings

(but not meat or dairy)1 point

stale left-over dinner rolls

(if you're not going to get around to making homem more...1 point

construction paper scraps

1 point

the dust-covered dried flower arrangement

in the living room, which is also bad feng shui1 point

all that tissue paper in the Christmas gift boxes

(if you're not going to save it for future gift or more...1 point

pressed board that almost every child's toy comes

intricately tied to with those million darn plasti more...1 point

flower bouquets that you're saving in the freezer

from that special occassion that you can't remembe more...1 point

junk faxes that you receive

(that you don't want to turn into scrap paper befo more...1 point

price tags and store tags from new clothing

1 point

old cotton/wool kids clothes that are too stained or worn

to give away1 point

old shoelaces

1 point

pomegranate skin & membranes

1 point

outdated train, bus & subway schedules

(same goes for outdated maps too)1 point

warranty & instruction manuals for gadgets that you

don't have anymore1 point

wedding, shower & party invitations

(after the event if not going into the scrapbook)1 point

brown-bag school book covers @ the end of the school year

1 point

your teenagers' notebooks from last year

1 point

thank you cards that you received that

aren't making it into a scrapbook1 point

acorn hats

1 point

paper cups and plates

1 point

2-year-old mustard

1 point

popsickle sticks

1 point

the roll of paper towels that got left out in the rain

1 point

toast crusts that finicky kids don't eat

1 point

strawberry tops

1 point

scummy water in the flower vases

1 point

tissue boxes

1 point

solid rock brown sugar

(that still won't soften even after you put it in more...1 point

the apple slices that you put in the brown sugar

bag to keep it moist1 point

the cinnamon buns that no one could finish

because they got a sugar headache from eating the more...1 point

the half-melted ice-pop that your child left

melting on the kitchen table before they went outs more...1 point

rice krispie treats that turned so hard that they

will break your teeth if you tried to eat them now1 point

all food items in your fridge & pantry

that are not on your New Year's Resolution diet (e more...1 point

left-over water, tea, coffee, soda that sat out

over night1 point

apple cider 2 weeks past its prime

1 point

left-over spiked punch

1 point

half-eaten bagels & snacks still left in the car

from this weekend's road trip1 point

guacamole - that got brown while sitting out

on the table for several hours during the game-nig more...1 point

toothpicks (yes, used)

unless you're really strapped for "browns&quo more...1 point

the tomato that the ground hog took a bite of

and left it for you to pick up!1 point

last year's now-rotten bulbs

that never got planted1 point

Straw

0 points

Flat Soda

0 points

Hard, left-over rice from take-out Chinese food

0 points

BBQ & other Sauces that a past their expiration date

0 points

Fall Potted Mums that are not being planted

0 points

Crab apples

0 points

Popcorn - bottom of the bowl

0 points

hair brush & tub drain junk

0 points

sawdust

(but not tons - takes a long time to break down)0 points

dryer lint

(but not dryer fabric sheets)0 points

pine needles

0 points

seaweed & kelp

0 points

matches (used)

0 points

old jelly, jams and chutneys that got moldy before you finished the jar

0 points

the take-home bags of . . .

left-over spaghetti, mash pototatoes & gravy, more...0 points

"heavy" or "lite" syrup from canned fruit

(the little that you didn't pour onto your yogurt more...0 points

vacuum cleaner contents

0 points

pickle juice

0 points

dust bunnies

0 points

the sugar & flour that falls onto the table & floors when making cookies

0 points

soggy cereal left-overs

0 points

children's homework & schoolwork papers

(that just can't all be kept in the sentimental &q more...0 points

used coloring books

0 points

old Halloween candy - especially the kind that no one likes

0 points

hard-as-a-rock Easter jelly beans

0 points

Valentine's Day chocolate box candies that you don't like

0 points

used dirt from container plants

e.e. summer window box annuals & container tom more...0 points

the pulp from the juicing machine

0 points

scrapbook decoration scraps

0 points

pine cones

0 points

the junk (minus the coins) in the couch seat cushions

(same for the car floor mats and seat crevices)0 points

golf tees

0 points

the melted remains of the 7-11 & QuickCheck Slurpy/Slushy Soda drinks

0 points

A Printer-friendly and Alphabetized List

Would you like to be able to get a printer-friendly and/or an alphabetized or categorized version of this list?

I'm wondering - and I'D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU - because if you would, I'll work on putting it together for you!

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YOU Asked for IT!

A Printer-Friendly List
of 200+ Compost Items
awaits YOU at the Bottom of This Page!

Let's Party!

Do You Learn by Reading? Then these Composting Books are for you!

Some of us learn by doing.

Some of us learn via Internet webites & forums.

Some of us learn by talking to others.

Some of us learn by READING A GOOD BOOK!

[And some of us are quadruple winners! But my favorite method is still A Good Book.]
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Great "Everything Compost" Website

Get all of your Soil & Compost questions answered here.
GardenWeb Soil & Compost Forum
You can read all the posts - current & historical - in this GardenWeb.com forum without even being a member. If you have a question you want to post, just join - it's free!

Yes! You CAN make Compost in the Winter!

As Marion Owens says, if she can make compost in Alaskan winters, so can you. Visit her great gardening website - below.
Marion Owens' PlanTea - Compost Recipe
I really like Marion Owens. She's a gardener, and she's cool (literally - she lives in Alaska). She has more than great gardening tips - she has composting info, recipes, rhubarb info, etc.

I used her composting recipe once for my 33-gallon-compost-bin, and made great compost in less than 3 weeks! My garden loved it!

More Lenses that You Might Like

(by Me)

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A Neat Composting Container

Not everyone has the real estate, the lack of Home Owners' Association rules, or the aesthetic tastes of a 4' square compost pile hemmed-in by pallets or scrap 2' x 4's.

Some would like - or need to - have a more compact pile with "clean lines."

Welcome to the compost bin. I recommend the one below because it looks the best and works the best for what's out there. [I don't recommend the tumblers because I've heard that the resulting compost is a bit on the slimy side, rather than rich looking & smelling dirt.]
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Composting Items on eBay

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Share your comments here!

Also - tell us - What have you added to your compost pile lately?

Did we leave something out of the 200+ compost item list? We'd like to know :)

submit

Free Compost

Did you know that you might be able to get FREE compost?

It's true.

Check with your local town/county dump or recycling center. Many of these municipalities recycle leaves and grass clippings (from individuals and/or landscaping companies) into compost.

Mine does. And it comes out pretty good too!
Important!

Compost Haven

You've gotta visit the great
compost community at
GardenWeb.com Compost Forum
for cool compost ideas & tips.

Thanks to Arrowood - we have a list of "browns" a.k.a. "carbons"!!!

Thanks to Arrowood's comments above, we now have a new, inspired list.

But, here's what you have to keep in mind - almost nothing is ALL carbon or ALL nitrogen. Rather, it's a combination. And, there are chemistry charts online that you can look up the chemical composition of various substances that can help you figure all of this out on your own (i.e. if you want to revisit high school chemistry class).

So, in the compost world, we sometimes refer to a substance that's predominantly nitrogen as a "green," and one that's predominantly carbon as a "brown." And, one caveat - I'm not an expert identifier. So, what I've done is to make a list here of
BROWNS OR CARBONS that I'm confident about (rather than go through the entire 200+ list above and try to sort out each and every one of them.

In this way, Arrowood and others can have a wider selection of browns/carbons for his now-more-nutritious compost pile!!

Inner Tubes of Paper Towel & Toilet Paper rolls

I use scissors to make neat loops, but then my DH more...1 point

Cotton, Linen

Cotton is a brown or carbon. So, cut up some old "holey" more...0 points

Dryer Lint

As long as most of your clothes that generate lint more...0 points

Sugar

If it's predominantly sugar, then it's a brown or more...0 points

Pressed Board Boxes

We save all of these & then have a box shredding, more...0 points

Fallen Leaves

Now, Fallen Leaves are the ULTIMATE (in terms of nutritional more...0 points

Straw

Straw vies with Fallen Leavs as the ultimate nutritionally more...0 points

Wood

Anything wood-related is a brown. But, wood takes a more...0 points

MORAL TO THIS STORY?

If you've got a question about a possible ingredie more...0 points

Pressedboard Food Boxes

You know the pressedboard food boxes that cereal comes in? Well, there are actually more of those little devils running around your home than you might realize . . . and they would all be alot happier in your compost pile (going to good use feeding the earth) than sitting uselessly (but still decomposing nonetheless) in a dump. I shred mine because my compost pile needs to stay in a small-ish container, but if you have an open bin or pile, just throw the box in there!

Here are some examples of pressedboard boxes in the average home:
- cereal boxes
- cracker boxes
- organic oats, flax seed boxes
- jello and pudding boxes
- pasta boxes
- taco boxes
- sugar and brown sugar boxes
- artificial sugar boxes
- cornstarch boxes
- tea boxes
- brownie and cake mix boxes
- and ... I bet you can find more!

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Greens - In Your Refrigerator

Veggie Trimmings/Scraps

0 points

Fruit Trimmings/Scraps

0 points

Moldy Stuff in Fridge

But NOT dairy/meat0 points

Clementines, Oranges, Pears & Apples - that got too mushy

0 points

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Zucchini, Celery, Lettuce - that got too mushy

0 points

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200+ Compost Ingredients - Printer-Friendly Version

Vegetable Trimmings/Scraps

Fruit Trimmings/Scraps

Used Coffee Grounds - from your home

Leaves - whole

Eggshells

Leaves - shredded

Napkins/paper towels

Plants from your/others' garden (dead plants)

Grass clippings - from mowing the lawn

Deadhead & pruning plant trimmings

Used Coffee Grounds - from a shop

Moldy stuff in fridge that you're finally cleaning out (not dairy or meat)

Newspaper - shredded, balled up, or as is

Halloween Pumpkins

Clementines, Oranges, Pears, Apples, Cantaloupes (that got too mushy)

Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Peppers, Zucchini, Celery, Lettuce (that got too mushy)

Spent Annuals

Scrap paper

Kleenex/tissues

dog fur

apple cores

cat hair

OPL - other people's leaves

small twigs

weeds - without seeds

Human Urine

Cereal boxes

Dead bugs

Paper towel & toilet paper "tubes"

Nut shells

Orange, clementine, mango & melon peels

Junk mail (but not glossies)

Used Envelopes

Cut flower arrangements that should have been tossed already

water/broth from steamed/boiled veggies

mushy, brown bananas

left-over coffee in the pot

shreds from home/office shredder

coffee filters

beer

stale pastries

A failed veggie side-dish attempt (that no one will eat)

Hard, left-over rice from take-out Chinese food

BBQ & other sauces that are past their expiration date (but no dairy)

Fall Potted Mums that are not being planted

Crab apples

Popcorn - bottom of the bowl

Old spices & herbs

Frozen veggies - with freezer burn

Hair brush & tub drain junk

Sawdust

Dryer lint (but not dryer fabric sheets)

Seaweed & Kelp

Houseplants past their prime

Old jelly, jams & chutneys that got moldy before you finished them

Uneaten extra 1/2 serving at the bottom of the oatmeal pot

Take-home bags of left-over spaghetti, mashed potatoes & gravy, Sunday morning breakfast, baby eggplant in garlic sauce

Mushy onions

Juices/liquids from canned veggies

Heavy or Lite syrup from canned fruit

Vacuum cleaner contents

Cardboard boxes (big ones, shipping boxes)

Holey underwear & socks

Pickle Juice

Dust Bunnies

Stale chips & crackers

Guacamole turned brown

That Exotic, New Veggie that you never got around to making

The Now Slimy fresh mint & parsley that you never got around to using

Fliers from the Home Owners' Assoc, & local vendors that are stuck in the door

Store receipts

Used "To Do" Lists

Used coffee grounds - from the office

Absolutely worn-out cotton rags

Used tea bags or tea leaves

Old Wine that you'll never drink

Ugly grapes

All those "Page 2 of 2" that your printer spits out that has nothing on them

Rhubarb Leaves (because you can't eat 'em!)

Beet tops

Used dirt from container plants

Green tomatoes that are too small to transform

Moldy bread

Pulp from the Juicing Machine

Lemon & Lime rinds after you've squeezed the juice out of 'em

Grapefruit skeletons after breakfast

Cotton, Wool & Felt scraps

Slugs (Wanted Dead or Alive - the living will help decompose the cooler compost, and in doing so, will stay out of your garden!)

Vines, Leaves & Stems from Bean, Zucchini & Cuke plants

Pizza crusts that the kids hate to eat

Blood meal (dried blood) (available @ garden stores)

Alfalfa pellets

Hay

Straw

Flat Soda

Winter crop harvests

1 year old frozen left-overs (w/o meat or dairy)

Used food/Christmas shopping lists

Pine Needles

Matches (used)

Rabbit, hamster, guinea pig cage cleanouts (but not dog or cat droppings)

Bird cage cleanouts

Moldy apple sauce from the huge unfinished jar

Kids' lunch box left-overs

Left-over breakfast toast scraps

The 2 Remaining Pancakes

Squishy raw potatoes

The Remaining Peanut Butter in the Jar (because you're going on a diet)

Stale Cookies

The Gift of a Fruitcake (b/c no one is every really gonna eat it)

Brown shopping bags

Pressed board boxes

Electric pencil sharpener empty-ings

Watermelon rinds

Sugar & Flour that falls onto the table & floors when making cookies

Soggy cereal left-overs (after draining out the dairy)

Hummus gone bad

The Now-Moldy Bumper from the Bumper Crop of Tomatoes

Toe-Nail & Finger-Nail clippings

Children's homework & schoolwork papers (b/c they just can't all be kept as a momento)

Notices from the School & PTA

Sewing & Quilting fabric scraps & thread snips

Moth-eaten wool sweaters

Used coloring books

Old Halloween Candy - especially the kind that no one likes

Hard-as-a-rock Easter Jelly Beans

Valentine's Day chocolate box candies that you don't like

Paper Mache projects that didn't quite turn out as planned

IRS tax forms that you won't use because you have tax software or a CPA

Moldy bottom of the pasta sauce jar

Old Baking Soda (that was used to deoderize the fridge)

Hardened, congealed drink mix powders

Every pressed board item that came out of the bathroom closet & drawas that you finally decluttered)

Christmas cards (that you come across in February)

Any printed item along the line of "Go Yankees" (b/c I'm a Red Sox fan)

The Little Paper Peelings that Teenagers create when they're talking on the phone and peeling the label off bottles, etc.

Assembly Instructions after you've put the thing together

Puzzles that are missing a few pieces so no one will actually do them anymore

Completed Sudoku & Crossword puzzle books

False propaganda letters from your opposing political party

Hard-as-a-rock Marshmallows

Paper Wrapper of the Ream of Paper

Old Recipe Clippings for recipes that you'll never make

2-day-old bagels & donuts (that are past dunking stage)

Potato & Carrot Peelings

Now-Irrelevant Business Cards

Pear stems & cores

Pressed board boxes that 12-packs of soda come in

Pint & half-gallon ice cream containers

SAT vocabulary index cards (after the tests, of course)

Grocery Store Sales Inserts in the newspapers (not glossies)

All of the paper bills that you pay online anyway

White Rice (because you're going to replace it with brown rice because white rice is so bad for you)

Cotton balls that you used to clean the dog's ears

Empty matchbooks

Cardboard egg cartons (but not the styrofoam ones)

The cardboard boxes that the dryer sheets come in (but not the dryer sheets themselves)

Spent Blooms from the Butterfly Bush

Mistletoe after Christmas

After-dinner plate scrapings (but not meat or dairy)

Stale left-over dinner rolls (if you're not going to get around to making homemade breadcrumbs)

Construction paper scraps

The Dust-Covered dried flower arrangement

All that tissue paper in the Christmas gift boxes (that's too crumpled to re-use)

Pressed board that almost every child's toy comes in (& which is intricately tied to with those million darn plastic twisties)

Flower bouquets that you're saving in the freezer (from that special ocassion that you can't remember)

Junk faxes that you receive (that you don't want to turn into scrap paper before throwing out)

Price tags & store tags from new clothing

Old cotton & wool kids clothes that are too stained or worn

Old shoelaces

Pomegranate skin & membranes

Outdated train, bus & subway schedules (same goes for outdated maps too!)

Wedding, shower & party invitations (after the event, if not going into the scrapbook)

Scrapbook decoration scraps

Brown-bag school book covers @ the end of the school year

Your teenagers' notebooks from last year

Thank you cards that you received (that aren't making it into the scrapbook)

Acorn Hats

Paper cups & plates

Pine Cones

2-year-old mustard

Popsickle sticks

The Roll of Paper Towels that got left out in the rain

The Junk (minus the coins) in the couch seat cushions (same goes for the car floor mats and seat crevices)

Toast Crusts that finicky kids don't eat

Strawberry tops

Scummy water in the flower vases

Tissue boxes

Solid rock brown sugar (that won't soften w/any softening trick)

The old apple slices that you had put into the brown sugar to soften it

The Cinnamon Rolls that no one could finish (because they got a sugar headache from eating the first 4)

Grape stems

Half-melted ice-pop that your child left melting on the kitchen table before they went outside

The Plate of Food that you left on the kitchen counter that the dog just licked (not meat or dairy)

Rice Krispy Treats that turned so hard that they will break your teeth if you tried to eat them now

All food items in your fridge & pantry that are not on your New Year's Resolution diet

Left-over water, tea, coffee, soda that sat out overnight

Apple Cider 2 weeks past its prime

Left-over spiked punch

Half-Eaten bagels & snacks still left in the car from this weekend's road trip

Guacamole - that got brown while sitting out on the table for several houses during the game-night party

Golf tees

Toothpicks (yes, used)

Melted Remains of 7-11 & QuickCheck Slurpy/Slushy Sodas

The Tomato that the ground hog took a bite of and left on the ground for you to pick up!

Last year's now-rotten bulbs that never got planted

by

TheresaMarkham

Theresa A. Markham, Esq. is a divorce lawyer, and loves composting with the birds, bees and bears in NW NJ. Squidoo by Tree more »

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